Akane Tendou is the sixteen-year-old youngest daughter of Soun Tendou and a capable martial artist trained in the Tendou School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts. She is the primary heroine of the story and her name means dark red or crimson, while Tendou refers to the path of heaven. Akane is a strong-willed and fiery young woman who, despite her tough exterior, harbors deep insecurities about her femininity and her martial arts prowess, especially when compared to other female fighters. She is known for her explosive temper and can be quite violent, particularly toward her fiancé, Ranma Saotome, though his teasing and difficult behavior often provoke her reactions. Beneath her hot-headedness, she is fundamentally a kind, helpful, and self-sacrificing person who is genuinely uncomfortable with her arranged engagement to Ranma, even as her feelings for him begin to grow. She displays intense jealousy whenever Ranma is around other girls who are interested in him.

In one film, the central conflict begins at the Tendou dojo when a young Chinese woman named Lychee arrives seeking revenge against the elderly martial arts master Happosai for a broken promise. During the ensuing chaos, Akane comes into possession of a special scroll that marks her as the destined bride of Prince Kirin, the leader of the Seven Lucky Gods of martial arts from Nekonron, China. Prince Kirin abducts Akane, forcing Ranma and his friends to travel to China to rescue her. Some analyses note that her characterization in this film is inconsistent with her usual portrayal: while typically depicted as a defiant and proactive fighter who refuses to be a victim, here she is placed in a more passive role, cooking for her captor and even apologizing when her notoriously terrible cooking makes him ill.

As a martial artist, Akane possesses considerable physical strength and agility, with the ability to break stone walls and defeat numerous male attackers simultaneously. She is more proficient in armed combat, showing skill with samurai weapons such as the bokken, shinai, and staff, than she is in unarmed fighting. Her overall fighting ability is consistently portrayed as inferior to that of Ranma and other rivals like Shampoo. She often relies on a giant wooden mallet that she produces from nowhere to express her anger or engage in combat. Her notable weaknesses include an inability to swim and a complete lack of skill in cooking. There is no reliable information about her development or change as a character from the beginning to the end of this specific film.